Thousands of Donald Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol today, interrupting Congress’ certification of the presidential election results, after the president urged them to march there from his rally. At the rally, on the National Mall, Donald Trump Jr. gave a profanity-laced speech and said, “We're coming for you and we're going to have a good time doing it!” Meanwhile, the president’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani called for “trial by combat” at the rally. The president’s actions amount to the incitement of domestic terrorism and what can only be viewed as treason, as he seeks to overturn a lawfully conducted democratic election, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), which called for the vice president and Cabinet to invoke the 25th amendment to remove the president from office.
Below is a statement by Kathleen Rest, executive director of UCS.
“There are many things to love about our country. We pride ourselves on our democracy, freedom of speech, and the right to protest.
“What we are witnessing today at the nation’s Capitol at the urging of the president, is a violent intimidation of our elected representatives and by extension all of us. It is not a peaceful protest. It is insurrection. The Union of Concerned Scientists condemns the actions of violent extremists invading our seat of government.
“No nation that aspires to a government by constitutional democracy can or should tolerate such actions – armed threats to officials, breaking into and disrupting a constitutional function of our Congress, with the support of the president, who is sworn to uphold our Constitution and protect us from all enemies foreign and domestic. The vice president and Cabinet should invoke the 25th amendment and immediately remove the president from office for inciting this action.”
Below is a statement by Andrew Rosenberg, director of the Center for Science and Democracy at UCS.
“It is impossible to watch today and not recognize white privilege and white supremacy in action. There were many peaceful protests in support of racial justice over the summer. Too often they were met with aggressive suppression and violence—and mass arrests. In DC, Homeland Security and other federal law enforcement were out in full force in preparation for Black Lives Matter protests, but entirely absent when mostly white armed insurrectionists invaded the Capitol. Even the former Capitol Police chief was shocked that police were easily overwhelmed.
“Some have questioned why UCS works on democratic reform. One need only look at the Capitol to see why we need to reclaim our democracy as our own.”